Australian Dollar Hits Fresh Near-16-Month High

2026-01-23 03:14 By Joshua Ferrer 1 min. read

The Australian dollar strengthened toward $0.692 on Monday, hovering near a sixteen-month high, as strong jobs data boosted expectations of a near-term rate hike, while upbeat PMI figures further supported sentiment.

Recent data showed the unemployment rate unexpectedly fell to a seven-month low in December, boosting bets on rate hikes amid sticky inflation and increasingly hawkish signals from the Reserve Bank.

Swaps now price a 55.7% chance of a rate increase in February, up from 26.5% before the data, with over 80% odds of a hike by May.

Meanwhile, flash data showed the composite PMI expanded for the sixteenth straight month in January 2026, posting its strongest reading since April 2022.

Growth accelerated across both major sectors, as factory activity expanded for a third month and the services PMI posted its sharpest rise since early 2022.

The focus now turns to inflation data for December and Q4, due later this week, for further signals on the RBA’s policy outlook.



News Stream
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